Conflicts between avalanche transceivers
& mobile phones
4 April 2002
The article reproduced in full below is by
Tom Greenall (BEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering)
IN SHORT it means you should TURN OFF
your mobile phone if you are going seriously OFF PISTE
to any area where your guide tells you to carry a Avalanche transceiver because
mobile phone signals can prevent you being found if you do get caught in an
avalanche.
Avalanche transceivers are probably the most important bit of extra
equipment you should be carrying if you are skiing off piste. They are devices designed to
help find people buried by an avalanche. They work by continuously emitting a radio signal
on a standard international frequency (457KHZ). If someone is buried, they can be located
using the search function on another transceiver. All transceivers require training and
practice to use properly, with some being easier to use than others.
In our busy skiing world a lot of us carry mobile phones. Some to stay in contact with
friends, others for work or just for emergency use. Carrying a mobile whilst off piste may
seem like a great idea safety wise for calling for help.....BUT if it is switched ON it
will interfere with your avalanche transceiver. With analogue transceivers (harder to use)
it makes the system slower and less efficient, but with digital transceivers (easier to
use) it stops them working altogether.
To be safe you should carry your mobile, but switched off! If you need to keep in touch or
for work, just stop periodically, switch it on and check messages, then switch off again.
There have unfortunately been a few recorded incidents this year and last of people dying
in avalanches because they could not be found quickly due to mobile phones causing
interference.
I have tried testing this interference problem myself with a simple experiment. Whilst
practicing searching for transceivers I placed a mobile switched on next to the one I was
searching for. In also tried carrying a phone while searching occasionally getting the
phone to ring or sending text....The result was quite scary, I could find transceivers
with a phone next to them, but slowly and only with my Otravox and Peips (Analogue), using
an Arava 9000 and Baryvox (digital) I couldn't find anything. If I carried a phone
switched on but not ringing I could not find anything regardless of which type of
transceiver. Ringing the phone or texting just sent everything haywire!
When skiing the Valley Blanche the Guides have
taken to checking that their clients switch their phone off before starting. Be
safe switch those annoying things off! By Tom Greenall (BEng
Electronic and Electrical Engineering)
Off piste can still be great fun - just make sure you go
with a competent guide, listen to what they say, and have fun...
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